Monday, July 30, 2007

I am a speed demon....allegedly

I just got off the phone with my lawyer and it turns out that Hanover Insurance is continuing to claim that I was operating my bicycle in a negligent manner when I was cut off by their insured.

The newest argument, which is one that I'm particularly fond of, is an assertion that I was traveling at an unsafe speed. Initially I was denied for passing on the right. When I pointed out the explicit language in the Massachusetts General Laws that allows just that, the story was changed to the tune of "the cars were stopped, so passing on the right is still illegal."

Their new tune is that I'm an incredible cyclist, who despite limited bike time at that point, is able to exceed the legal speed limit of 35 mph on the road where the accident occurred.

In 1984 Greg Lemond's record breaking average speed in the final time trial of the Tour de France was an eye-watering 54 kmph. That translates roughly to 33.5 mph - at least 1.5 mph slower than my alleged speed. Move over Levi, Jordan's coming to pass you on the shoulder.